Reference

SRW (Samsung RAW)

SRW is Samsung’s RAW image format, used by Samsung NX cameras to store unprocessed sensor data. Files are large and need Samsung’s software, Lightroom/Adobe Camera Raw, or conversion to DNG or JPEG to edit and share.

Files & formatsGeneral

SRW (Samsung RAW)

Also known as: Samsung RAW, SRW file, how to open SRW, .srw

Samsung NX RAW format (line discontinued)
Unprocessed sensor data, larger than JPEG
Opens in Lightroom or Camera Raw; convert to DNG to future-proof

What an SRW file is

SRW is the proprietary RAW format Samsung’s NX mirrorless cameras wrote when shooting RAW. It holds the raw sensor readings, an embedded preview, and EXIF metadata, keeping exposure and color fully editable after capture.

Samsung discontinued its NX camera line, so SRW is no longer being produced by new hardware — but existing files remain perfectly editable, and like any RAW they are much larger than a JPEG of the same shot.

How to open and convert SRW

SRW opens in Adobe Lightroom and Camera Raw, Apple Photos/Preview on recent macOS, and most full-featured editors with RAW support. Generic viewers usually cannot display it.

Because the format is no longer current, the safest long-term move is to convert SRW to DNG so the RAW data lives in a widely supported container, or export to JPEG for sharing. Keep the original only while you still need to re-edit it.

Related terms

Keep reading the reference.

Files & formatsCamera RAW (CR2, NEF, ARW)Camera RAW is the umbrella for manufacturer-specific files that store unprocessed data straight off the camera sensor — Canon CR2/CR3, Nikon NEF, Sony ARW, and others. They keep maximum editing flexibility, which makes them far larger than the JPEG or HEIC the same shot would produce.General Files & formatsDNG (digital negative)DNG (Digital Negative) is an open raw image format created by Adobe. Like other raw files, it stores the unprocessed sensor data from a camera for maximum editing flexibility — and like all raw files, it takes far more storage than a JPEG or HEIC.GeneraliOS Files & formatsRAW imageA RAW image is the unprocessed data straight from a camera sensor, before any in-camera compression or color processing. It preserves maximum editing flexibility but produces very large files — many times bigger than a JPEG or HEIC of the same shot.GeneraliOS Files & formatsJPEGJPEG (.jpg) is the most widely supported photo format. It uses lossy compression to shrink photographs dramatically, trading a small amount of detail for much smaller files. It has no transparency and is larger than newer formats like HEIC or WebP at the same quality.General

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